The Daimon screamed for release.

He screamed for death.

Zarek knew the sound of both. Many nights he'd lain awake doing the same thing.

If he were merciful, he would kill him. But that wasn't his job.

He was a Dark-Hunter, and Thanatos...

Zarek would leave him for Acheron to deal with.

Astrid parked the snowmachine and came running up to him.

Her eyes were a deeper blue now that she could see.

"Is he contained?"

He nodded.

She threw herself into his arms. Zarek stumbled backward.

"Easy, princess. The only reason I'm standing and not sitting is mere strength of will."

Astrid looked past Zarek and saw Thanatos on the ground, cursing both of them.

"Why didn't you kill him?"

"Not my place. Besides, I'm through being Artemis's lapdog. It's time I told the 'heifer goddess' to get lost." Astrid went pale. "You can't just leave, Zarek. She'll kill you."

He smiled grimly. "Let her try. I'm in the mood to fight." He snorted at that.

"Then again, I'm always in the mood to fight."

Astrid held her breath at his words. They gave her hope.

"What about us?" she asked.

For the first time she could see the anguish on his face as he looked at her, see the pain in his midnight eyes. "There is no us, princess. There never was."

Astrid opened her mouth to argue, but before she could, her mother appeared with Sasha, who was in his human form.

Astrid gave her a droll look. "You're a little late, Mom."

"Blame your sisters. Atty told me to stay put. I came as soon as she would let me."

Sasha curled his lip at Zarek who glared back at him.

"Sorry, Scooby, I'm all out of LivaSnaps."

Sasha curled his lips. "I really hate you."

Zarek gave him a matching sneer. "Feeling's entirely mutual."

Themis ignored the men as she addressed Astrid. "Have you judged him, daughter?"

"He's innocent." She pointed to Thanatos, who was still cursing them. "There's the proof of his mercy and humanity."

An ear-piercing shriek sounded. It was followed by total silence.

"What the hell was that?" Zarek asked.

"Artemis," Astrid said in unison with her mother and Sasha.

Themis sighed. "I wouldn't want to be in Acheron's place tonight."

"Why?" Zarek asked.

It was Sasha who answered. "Never piss off a goddess. There's no telling what she'll do to him for getting you off the hook."

Zarek felt ill as he remembered some of the things Acheron had said to him in the past that hinted at the fact Artemis took her anger out on him. "She doesn't really punish him?"

The looks on their faces gave him the truth.

Zarek winced as he remembered all the times Ash had asked him to make it easy on him. All the times he had told Ash to burn in hell.

Sasha made his way to Thanatos.

"What's to become of him?" Zarek asked.

Themis shrugged. "It's up to Artemis. He belongs to her."

Zarek sighed at that. "Maybe I should have killed him after all."

Astrid used her sleeve to blot at the blood on his face.

"No," her mother said. "What you did for Simi and my daughter along with the mercy you showed Thanatos is why I'm allowing her verdict to stand even though she violated her impartiality oath."

Astrid smiled up at him, but he didn't feel happy with the way things had turned out.

"Come, Astrid," her mother said. "We need to go home."

Zarek couldn't take his eyes off her as those words wedged into his heart like a knife.

Let her go...

He had to.

And yet every molecule of his body was screaming at him to keep her. To reach out and take her hand in his.

"Have you anything to say about that, Dark-Hunter?" her mother asked.

He did, but the words wouldn't come.

Zarek had been strong all his life. He would be strong tonight. He would never bind her to him. It wouldn't be right.

"Sometimes stars do fall to earth."

He heard Acheron's words in his mind. It was true. They did and then they became commonplace like the rest of the dirt on the planet.

His star was one of a kind.

He would never allow her to be like any other. Never allow her to become common or sullied.

No, her place was in the sky. With her family.

With her stinking pet wolf.

Never with him. "Have a nice life, princess."

Astrid's lips trembled. Her eyes were filled with unshed tears. "You too, Prince Charming."

Her mother took her hand while Sasha collected Thanatos. In the blink of an eye they vanished.

Everything was the way it had been before she came.

And yet nothing was the same.

Zarek stood in the middle of his yard alone. There was no wind. Everything was motionless.

Still.

Calm.

Everything except for his heart, which was breaking.

Astrid was gone.

It was for her own good.

So why did he feel so brokenhearted?

As Zarek hung his head, he noticed the blood that was dripping from his arm.

He'd best tend the wound before any bears or wolves caught its scent. Sighing, he went into his empty cabin, shut the door and bolted it. He crossed the room to his cupboard and opened it.

There was really no way to tend the wound here. Since his generator had never been delivered, the water had frozen in the cold and there was no heat to thaw anything out.

Even his peroxide was frozen solid.

Zarek cursed and put the peroxide back in his pantry, then grabbed a bottle of vodka instead. It was slushy and thick, but still liquid.

He heard a faint ringing coming from outside. Going back out into his yard, he retrieved his backpack that Astrid had left. The mink and her kits were still inside and still cranky.

Ignoring them, Zarek pulled his phone out. "Yeah?" he said, answering it.

"It's Jess. I just got a call from Acheron telling me and Andy to go home. I wanted to check in with you first, make sure you were still alive."

Zarek took the mink and her kits into his house and set them back inside the safety of his stove. "Since I answered the phone, my guess is yes, I'm still living."

"Smart-ass. You still need me to come get Astrid?"

"No, she's..." He choked on the word. Clearing his throat, he forced it out.

"She's gone."

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

Silence hung between them.

After a few seconds, Jess spoke again. "By the way, did anyone ever tell you about Sharon? In all the commotion, I didn't have time."

Zarek paused, his hand on the stove. "What about her?"

"Thanatos hurt her trying to find you, but she'll be okay. Otto is going to stay up here for a few more days to make sure she gets a new house and has someone to take care of her when she comes home from the hospital. I just thought you'd want to know. I... uh... I sent her some flowers from you."

He let out a slow breath. It pained him that she'd been hurt and he hadn't even known. He ruined everything he touched. "Thanks, Jess. It was a kind thing you did for me. I appreciate it."

Something struck the phone's receiver. Hard. It caused Zarek's ear to ring.

"Excuse me?" Jess asked in disbelief. "This is Frozen Zarek I'm talking to, right?

Not some weird pod person?"

He shook his head at Jess's joking. "It's me, dickless."

"Hey, now, that's way too personal. I don't need to know that much about you."

Zarek gave a halfhearted smile. "Shut up."

"All right, then. I'm going to head out and let Mike take my ass out of here while I still got some of it left unfrozen... Oh, hey, by the way, Spawn headed out a while back. Said to tell you not to worry about returning his phone. You know, he's not half-bad for an Apollite and he's not that far from here. Maybe you ought to call him sometime."

"You playing matchmaker?"

"Um, no. Definitely not, and again you're freaking me out with that entire train of thought. I've heard enough stories about you Greeks and all that. In fact, tell you what, forget I said anything at all about Spawn. I'm out of here. You take care, Z.

I'll see you online." Zarek hung up the phone and turned it off. Might as well. Jess was the only person who ever called him anyway.